Council committee backs moving noise-control map amendment to full council to restore 2017 boundaries

Councilman Chad Jones, chair of the public safety committee, asked colleagues to advance Resolution 20 of 2025 — a petition to the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) to extend the city’s noise-control exemption map for five years — and said he would offer an amendment to restore the map boundaries in effect in 2017.

Assistant City Solicitor Jonathan Luff described the item as “resolution 20 of 2025. This is the resolution approving the submission of the petition for the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board,” and said the current ordinance had run from 2020 through 2025 and lapsed in January 2025. He told council members the administration had prepared a map showing the area in the 2017 resolution that Jones proposed restoring.

The committee discussed boundaries at length. Councilman Jones asked colleagues to review the 2017 map; Councilwoman Ross asked that the public be advised of when and how to comment. Mr. Trousdale told the committee there would be two opportunities for public comment: at the city’s legislative session where council will vote, and later at the PLCB hearing, which will be posted publicly under the Sunshine Act. Council members repeatedly requested a clearer list of affected businesses and specific noise-complaint counts tied to licensed establishments; Trousdale said that number was “not specified” in the materials and that the map review showed “quite a few” licensed businesses in the area.

Council members also discussed concerns the PLCB hearing officer had expressed about “zig-zaggy” boundaries. Vice President Green said the PLCB favored simpler, rectangular boundaries; city counsel staff and other members warned that more regular boundaries could extend the exemption into larger residential areas. Jones said his amendment intends to restore the 2017 boundary, which several speakers and public commenters said had previously included Midtown.

Public commenters during the meeting urged the council to restore the 2017 map. Mark Santana, speaking as president of Capitol Area Neighbors and a downtown resident, said the exemption allows local control and helps music venues and restaurants. John Trainor, representing the Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center project, said Midtown had been included in earlier exemptions dating back to 2014 and 1999 and that the 2019 map change appeared to remove Midtown without adequate notice to affected businesses.

Councilman Jones moved to send Resolution 20, with his amendment restoring the 2017 boundary, to the next legislative session for a vote; the committee agreed to advance the item.

The outcome is procedural: the committee referred the resolution and amendment to the full council; a formal legislative vote and any PLCB submission will occur later. The record shows the council and administration intend to notify the public and the PLCB and to provide an opportunity for residents and business owners to comment at both the city legislative hearing and the PLCB hearing.

Looking ahead, council members requested a list of affected licensed establishments, noise‑complaint counts tied specifically to those establishments (if available), and the finalized map language that will accompany the proposed amendment.